This is a statistical history of the National Hockey League in its first 50 seasons. It provides every statistic for every player for every game, including playoff games. A full introduction puts the tremendous amount of data contained within the book in its historical context, and each chapter then recounts a single season. An explanatory essay illuminating the most important attributes of a particular season introduces each chapter.

Award-winning author Marshall D. Wright is a sports statistician and archivist. He lives in Quincy, Massachusetts and is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research and Society International of Hockey Research.

Marshall D. Wright
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 459
Bibliographic Info: tables, appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2010
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4444-1
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5767-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi

Introduction      1

Prelude: Professional Antecedents      5

1917–18 Exclusionary Tactics      9

1918–19 Influenza      14

1919–20 Joe Malone      19

1920–21 Innovative Rival      24

1921–22 Broadbent’s Streak      29

1922–23 Race to the Top      34

1923–24 Trophy      39

1924–25 Striking Southward      44

1925–26 Georges Vezina      51

1926–27 Sole Survivor      58

1927–28 The Skipper Steps In      67

1928–29 Shutout      76

1929–30 Forward Pass      85

1930–31 Howie Morenz      94

1931–32 Palace      104

1932–33 Tiebreaker      113

1933–34 Cheap Shot      123

1934–35 Penalty Shot      133

1935–36 Sudden Death Overtime      143

1936–37 Total Goal Series      152

1937–38 All-American      162

1938–39 Frank Brimsek      171

1939–40 New York Rangers      180

1940–41 Boston Bruins      189

1941–42 The Hard Way      198

1942–43 “The Puck Goes Inski”      207

1943–44 Disparity      215

1944–45 Maurice Richard      224

1945–46 Nerves      232

1946–47 Bill Durnan      240

1947–48 Two Men Out      248

1948–49 Individual Accolades      256

1949–50 Linemates      264

1950–51 A Moment in Time      273

1951–52 Detroit Red Wings      282

1952–53 Original Seven      290

1953–54 Gordie Howe      299

1954–55 Riot      308

1955–56 Montreal Canadiens      317

1956–57 Jacques Plante      326

1957–58 Pioneer      334

1958–59 Dynamic Duo      343

1959–60 The Drive for Five      351

1960–61 Banana Blade      359

1961–62 Glenn Hall      368

1962–63 Toronto Maple Leafs      377

1963–64 A League of Their Own      386

1964–65 Unprotected      395

1965–66 Bobby Hull      404

1966–67 Chicago Blackhawks      413

Epilogue: The Great Expansion      423

Appendix: Year-by-Year Totals      427

Bibliography      429

Index      433